Kevin and Kell - History

History

Kevin and Kell was one of the first comic strips to be syndicated online, although older webcomics exist. For example, Argon Zark! was created on June 1995, three months before Kevin and Kell. However, Holbrook was the first syndicated cartoonist to invest heavily in online comic strips. T Campbell wrote that Holbrook brought "an air of legitimacy and professionalism that many web cartoonists lacked then and still lack now."

The strip started in black and white, changing to a color-scheme on June 23, 2000. It is colored by husband and wife team Terrence and Isabel Marks. The strip has been considered for an animated television series, the latest attempt being filmed in Spring 2011. Kevin and Kell has appeared daily in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution since January 2004, after winning a contest where several new comics, (syndicated and/or on-line) were considered and voted on by readers; Holbrook has stated that this constitutes the "bulk of his readership", citing the paper's circulation. In 2009, Kevin and Kell survived a cull of several comic strips from the paper. In an online poll, the strip was voted as the favourite of readers of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Holbrook currently writes two other strips; On the Fastrack and Safe Havens. He uses a "three-week schedule", saying in several interviews, "During this week, for instance, I'll be writing three week's worth of Fastrack material, and drawing the 21 gags I wrote for Kevin & Kell last week. Next week I'll write for Safe Havens while drawing the Fastrack batch. And on it goes… On a typical day I'll begin by writing four gags by 2:00, then I'll begin drawing, usually doing about four strips. At night, after everyone goes to bed, I'll write two gags."

In 1998, Holbrook was named "Cartoonist of the Year" at Pogofest, in part for his work on Kevin and Kell. In 2001, the strip won the award for "Best Anthropomorphic Comic" at the Web Cartoonist's Choice Awards, and was nominated for the same award in 2002. In 2003, Kevin and Kell won the award for "Best Anthropomorphic Comic Strip" at the Ursa Major Awards.